Indonesia's Kelud volcano eruption kills 2, displaces over 100,000

JAKARTA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Mount Kelud volcano eruption in East Java, Indonesia, killed two people and displaced more than 100,000 others, an official said on Friday.

Those two were killed when their houses collapsed due to the eruption, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency, told Xinhua by phone.

He said that the seismic activity of the volcano eased on Friday as against on Thursday night but the alert level remains top.

"The number of evacuees reaches 100,248 on Friday," said Sutopo.

Indonesia closes three airports on Friday and issued a warning to flight to reroute near Mount Kelud, Bambang Ervan, spokesman of transport ministry, told Xinhua.

Mount Kelud persisted weak eruption after the powerful burst of ash and gravel on Thursday night, shooting ash 17,000 meters to the sky, Khairul Huda, head of observation post for Kelud volcano, told Xinhua by phone from East Java.

That is the strongest volcano eruption in recent years in Indonesia.

Gigantic hot lava burst forth with flames from the crater and slid off the slope of the mountain, while rains of ash containing volcanic materials, such as gravel, sand and others, proceed on Friday, said Huda.

The ash spread to nearby provinces, including Yogyakarta, Central Java province and even West Java province, Umar Rosadi, head of national volcanology agency, told Xinhua.

The volcanology agency elevated the alert of Mount Kelud to the top level at 21:15, according to Rosadi.

The last volcanic eruption of Mount Kelud occurred in 2007 and its strongest eruption took place in 1919 and claimed 55 lives.

Indonesia has endured volcanic eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra for months that killed 17 people.